DIY: Paper leaf topiary for Etsy

I never planned on becoming so DIY crazy but one thing leads to the next and boom! Next thing you know you’re DIY’ing for Etsy. I was so flattered when Alison (who’s Teenangster blog I’m totally loyal to) asked me to create a special DIY for their Handmade Weddings and I LOVE the final product. Here goes:

Step 1: Bring a piece of wire through the hole in the bottom of the pot. Secure it over the bottom of the embroidery hoop and then back through the hole again. Cut off excess wire if it extends out.

Step 2: Secure the wire pieces on the bottom with a discreet piece of duct tape.

Step 3: Stuff newspaper into the bottom of the pot, leaving about an inch space between the top and the newspaper.

Step 4: Break off a piece of moss to fill the pot on either side of the embroidery hoop.

Step 5: With your various shades of green paper, draw a a simple leaf shape and cut out multiple copies. You’ll want various sizes of the leaves. The smallest leaf should start at the top of the hoop, with the leaves getting bigger as they go down.

Step 6: Fold the leaf in the center, but leave a bit of the end unfolded.

Step 7: With your glue gun, dab a small amount of glue on the edge of the leaf and stick it at an angle at the top of the embroidery hoop.

Step 8: Using a different color leaf, angle the leaf in the opposite direction and glue in place.

Step 9: Continue this pattern as you go down the hoop, making sure the leaves get larger and larger as you go on and alternating shades of greens.

Step 10: If you want to get really fancy, you can cut pictures of your silhouettes out of grey paper and attach them to skewers. An easy way to do this would be to first take pictures in profile, print them off, then use the picture as a stencil.

Optional: Another way to get fancy is to cut out letters using the wedding couple’s monogram. Simply find a pretty font that you like in a program like Microsoft Word, print the letters you need and use them as a stencil on grey paper. Glue these onto skewers and stick into the moss.